Novotel York Centre

Stayed here for 3 nights for the occasion of my daughter’s 18th. Our room was ready when we arrived and there was a hand written card and a dessert late of chocolates for my daughter which was a nice touch. All staff were extremely friendly and helpful. The breakfast restaurant staff were amazing. I don’t remember their names but the gent who seated us daily and the lady in the face mask, I think her name was Rafkha was especially helpful and got me gluten-free toast each morning. The hotel is very close to all the sights we wanted to see. If I had to make a comment, it would be that the balance of chlorine in the pool needs amending as everyone’s eyes were watering ( without putting their head under) and several guests were slightly wheezing with the chlorine evaporating off the pool. My daughter had to get out after 5 mins due to this. But I would stay here again, it is a great hotel

We stayed here for one night. I booked this hotel because I thought it would be nice to have a swimming pool. Unfortunately I wish I had taken note of the reviews beforehand as they are spot on. I would have rather stayed in a cleaner, basic hotel closer to the centre. The swimming pool changing room was disgusting. The drain was clogged so the whole thing flooded with shampoo running under our feet from someone else’s shower when we were trying to change. You have to book a 25 minute time slot in advance, however staff didn’t monitor this. There was a large family of men and teenage boys in the pool for over an hour bombing, throwing frisbees and sword fighting with floats so we couldn’t enjoy it. The shallow end is really small and it immediately gets very deep. The water is also very cold! The hotel room was very dirty. There were dramatic stains all over the carpet (I will attach a picture). The toilet is in a separate room with no sink so you’re having to touch door handles with dirty hands. The bed was not made, I had to tuck in the sheet myself and when I did I discovered the stains on it and there was even a rip in it. The room was dirty and dusty and had not been cleaned properly. The breakfast food was good, but there is no table service at all for drinks. When I tracked down a staff member to ask for a simple black coffee, I was told to use the machine (which does not offer this). I asked two other staff members who also told me sorry but I had to use the machine, and choose Americano (which has milk in it). It was such a simple request and so confusing why they couldn’t just be helpful. I gave up and bought one elsewhere when we checked out. The reception staff were pleasant enough, but considering you cant checkin until 430pm, it was incredibly unorganised. We were waiting for ages in a queue of about 10 other families while only one member of staff was checking people in. And we arrived after 5pm! Not knowing York, I thought the location would be closer to the centre than it was. It was an odd location being at the end of a residential street. It’s a 20 minute walk from the train station and 15 minutes to the centre where the shambles is. Which was ok for us, but an FYI for anyone who doesn’t know York either. To summarise: - Good breakfast options and food, but no service. - Dirty hotel room - stains and mould - Dirty swimming pool changing rooms - Unorganised and late / lengthy check in process - Location ok. We will not be returning to Novotel York or any other Novotel based on our stay here, especially for the money I paid for this.

We are regular visitors to York but first stay here It has the potential to be brilliant but needs a lot of input! Reception check in was friendly but so slow Our room was ready early which was good and the on-site car park is a rare but welcome asset Our room was basic and very expensive for what it was - Saturday night was over £200 and I’ve had better/equivalent £26 rooms in travelodge (cleaner even!!) The carpet was very stained and there was staining to the wall - bedside cabinet had dried spilt tea from a previous occupant which doesn’t suggest thorough cleaning takes place Mirror other reviewers comments about the toilet having no sink - very poor design decision - pitch black middle of the night having to go between two rooms switching lights on just to wash your hands. Do not understand this at all!! We did have bed and towels for our daughter but no extra cup for tea - teabags were used first night and never replaced Breakfast was tasty and enjoyable - staff friendly and polite The pool is awful! Feels dirty and same for the changing rooms - drains pulled out in disabled one and dirty - other two changing cubicles have nowhere to sit or put your clothes while you change and there’s a mucky looking shower in the middle of the room Room passes wouldnt allow access to the pool area and you had to get in via reception but stood in the queue for 20 mins and didn’t reach the front - ended up grabbing the door when someone left it we would have missed our 25 min slot to swim! All in all this hotel is expensive but it’s city centre in summer so expect that but in return I expect clean well organised service which didn’t happen! I probably won’t be back - we have stayed in the York Hilton and it’s incomparable with this at same cost Management need to do some serious work at this one

Rooms requiring upgrading, cleanliness in the rooms were disappointing. On arrival to our room used mug & glass left in the fridge, carpets stained, duvet cover torn all of which were reported to reception.

Public areas were fine apart from duct tape on the lift button on the 4th floor. Lift could've been cleaner. Air con had been left on and room was very cold. Cleaners could do a better job. Top of cupboard door that opened to fridge was very dirty as was the other cupboard door beside it. Bottom of shower screen was really yellow. Grouting round bath needs a good clean. You can get special products to do this. Window sill could do to be painted. Bed was very hard. Restaurant food was fine but could've been hotter. Staff were overall very pleasant. Lift was tight for a wheelchair user. Didn't see anything in the room to justify it being called Superior!!!! Tiny amount of toiletries. We stayed in a Novotel executive room in Paris & it was amazing.